Appointments
Tom Sleigh has been re-elected to serve a fourth year as Chair of the City of London Corporation’s Barbican Centre Board, which is responsible for overseeing the Barbican Centre. Sleigh is also Group Corporate Affairs Director at The Bank of London.
London Transport Museum has announced Elizabeth McKay as its newly appointed Director and CEO. McKay has served as the museum’s Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Director for the past five years and will take up her new role in August.
Openings
Hull’s Wilberforce House Museum has reopened to the public after a three year closure caused by the pandemic. The museum, housed in a Grade I building, documents the life of campaigner against the slave trade William Wilberforce. It has undergone major conservation work, the creation of a new temporary gallery, and an overhaul of its heating system during its closure. It opened on the 20th May with a new temporary exhibition, Uncovering Modern Slavery.
The V&A’s Photography Centre has reopened this week, revealing seven galleries – four of which are new additions – and 600 works including new acquisitions and commissions on public display for the first time. It claims to be the most extensive suite of galleries in the UK dedicated to a permanent photography collection, and alongside photographs will feature interactive displays and themed galleries showcasing the breadth and history of the collection.
Exhibitions
An installation of clay bird sculptures developed by artist Julie Nelson opens at the Horniman Museum and Gardens. Called the Flock Project, it saw Nelson work in collaboration with members of the Grounding Project, a specialist service for people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Twenty five resulting sculptures, presented as bird specimens, accompany drawings and a video by filmmaker Andy Dunn. Runs from 27 May 2023.
Sonia Boyce’s ‘Feeling Her Way’ (pictured above) will open at Leeds Art Gallery this weekend. The exhibition won a Golden Lion Award for Best National Participation while on display at the British Pavilion for La Biennale di Venezia in Italy in 2022.The tour, which includes Leeds, marks the first time the British Pavilion has ever toured outside La Biennale di Venezia. Combining video, collage, music and sculpture, the exhibition centres around the voices of musicians Jacqui Dankworth, Poppy Ajudha, Sofia Jernberg, Tanita Tikaram, and composer Errollyn Wallen, and includes a series of video works displayed alongside Boyce’s tessellating wallpapers and 3-D geometric structures.
A new permanent display in the Story of the Tyne gallery at Discovery Museum which explores the North East region’s links to Indian Indentureship is now on display. The display is an initiative of the Exchange: Community-Led Collections Research project at Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums (TWAM), a steering group of people representing African and Caribbean diaspora communities across the North East to explore the museum collections. The display shows the half-block model of a ship called the Jumna, built on the River Wear in 1867, and shares one family’s story as Indentured people.
Tate Modern will invite visitors to participate in an interactive artwork by Rasheed Araeen this summer. ‘Zero to Infinity’ will be staged in the gallery’s Turbine Hall as part of UNIQLO Tate Play – Tate Modern’s free programme of art-inspired activities. The work features 400 brightly coloured geometric cubes which people of all ages are encouraged to stack, tilt and balance to create new configurations. Runs 22 July – 28 August 2023.
York Castle Museum’s new community exhibition celebrates the history of the Gypsy and Traveller Communities (GTC) in the city. Developed with York Travellers Trust (YTT), the exhibition uses photography, an installation designed by members of the GTC, historical information and a film, to celebrate their important connections to the city. Objects on display include a wagon – also known as a Vardo – and a reproduction of Dame Laura Knight’s 1953 painting, ‘Early Morning in a Gypsy Camp’. Opens 27 May 2023,
A major retrospective on the work of Dame Mary Quant, organised by the V&A, opened at its final destination at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum this month. ‘Mary Quant: Fashion Revolutionary’ features over 100 garments, accessories, cosmetics, and photographs drawn from the V&A’s extensive collections, Dame Mary Quant’s archive and many private collections. Runs until 22 October 2023.
A selection of lesser-known works from The Courtauld’s collection of Post-Impressionist art will go on display in the Denise Coates Exhibition Galleries this summer, supplementing the masterpieces in the LVMH Great Room next door. The display will feature works by Pierre Bonnard, Édouard Vuillard and Henri Rousseau. Runs 15 June – 3 September 2023.
Time and Tide Museum in Norfolk Discover will explore the beauty of animal skeletons in its new exhibition. ‘Bare Bones’ features the posed skeletons of leaping frogs, a coiled Burmese python, and a crow holding on to the shell of its next meal. Runs 27 May – Saturday 7 October 2023.
Funding
The Foundling Museum has launched the public phase of its appeal to secure the Museum’s home and custodianship of the Foundling Hospital Collection for 999 years. The Museum has already raised over £3.6m from over 20 supporters including the National Heritage Memorial Fund, Foyle Foundation, Ethos Foundation and Pilgrim Trust, plus a range of other leading trusts and foundations and generous individuals. The Museum now has until September to secure the final £1m and guarantee long-term public access to its historic building and collections.
The Vagina Museum has met its extended crowdfunding target of £85,000 this week, allowing it to move into a new East London location in the capital after warning of a “now-or-never” financial situation during its fundraising efforts.
Vagina Museum meets crowdfunding target for new East London location
Image: Room 3 in the British Pavilion featuring performers Jacqui Dankworth and Sofia Jernberg – 2022 (Image Cristiano Corte © British Council)
